


barely time (for us to breathe)

by supervisorhob (caughtinkhanded)



Series: things you said [2]
Category: The Black Tapes Podcast
Genre: F/M, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 06:05:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10735662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caughtinkhanded/pseuds/supervisorhob
Summary: things you said through your teeth; the brink of tragic endings or new beginnings.-or-Strand gets shot.





	barely time (for us to breathe)

**Author's Note:**

> quick warning: alex swears a fair bit and honestly who could blame her?
> 
> also there's some non-graphic descriptions of somebody getting shot and blood, but really nothing super graphic.

It all happened too fast. There had been no time to react as Warren had lifted the gun, that manic glint in his eye. She could only stand by and watch as he pulled the trigger. She could only stare as Strand crumpled to the ground, his button-up quickly turning red.

 

She let out some sort of noise; she wasn’t even sure of what she did.

 

Things continued to move around her. Warren turned towards her, his mouth twisted up in an alarming smile. Somehow this man seemed crazier than any dark shadow or demon. He was pure human evil.

 

“Now, Ms. Reagan, your turn.”

 

“Warren, you don’t have to do this. Just let me take him to a hospital. This doesn’t have to end this way.” She held her hands up steadily as she tried to move towards Strand. “Are you alright, Richard?”

 

Strand let out a groan, uncurling slightly, revealing the dark stains on his abdomen. “Alex, just go. Please.” He managed through the pain.

 

“Isn’t that sweet, Richard?” Warren let out a sound that in theory must have been a laugh. “Stay where you are, Ms. Reagan. No sudden movements. I wouldn’t want anybody else to get – “ There was a sharp crack and bang and Warren stumbled forward. He stared down at his chest in surprise where a hole had appeared, blood spilling out of his body. “How…?” His eyes lost focus and then he fell forward.

 

“Oh my god!” Alex yelped, moving away from the dead body. “Oh my fucking god. What the fuck?” She stammered, scrambling towards Strand. “Oh Jesus.” Her phone started buzzing in her pocket. “Hello?”

 

 _“Alex? It’s Coralee. You need to go now. Richard’s losing too much blood. He needs to get to a hospital now. The police will be there soon with all the gunfire._ ”

 

“What the fuck?” Alex repeated.

 

 _“I’ll explain some other time. You need to get moving, Alex.”_ Coralee always seemed to sound as if she had the answers to everything but Alex was too stressed to deal with whatever was going on. _“Try and get pressure on his wound._ ”

 

“Are you watching us?”

 

_“Goodbye Alex. Take care of him.”_

“What the actual fuck?”

 

“Alex…” Strand rasped, his voice weaker than ever.

 

“Shit, right. Can you move at all? We need to get to the car.” She looped an arm under his shoulders, straining to lift his body up. “Jesus Christ.” Strand whimpered. “I’m so sorry. We just have to get out the door. The car’s right there.”

 

They limped out of the building, Alex nearly crumpling under Strand’s weight. There was an alarming trail of blood behind them. Alex managed to force open the passenger door and guide Strand into it. She searched for some sort of towel to staunch the bleeding, but of course she had just cleaning out her car. She tugged off her hoody and pressed it to his wound.

 

“You need to hold this here. I know it hurts but we need to stem the bleeding somehow.”

 

She ran to the other side, not waiting for his response. She barely even managed to get the key in the ignition her hands were shaking so badly. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” She muttered as she pulled away, trying to focus on the road, not on the man bleeding out in her front seat.

 

“Alex,” Strand muttered again, his voice strained.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I don’t think I’m going to be okay.”

 

“Don’t you dare say that.” She hissed, glancing over at him briefly. “You’re going to be okay. You have to be okay.”

 

“I’m sorry, Alex.” He looked paler than a person should ever look. “I’m tired.”

 

“No, no, you need to stay awake. Don’t fall asleep. Keep talking to me.” She made a sharp turn, cutting at least three people off.

 

Strand let a heavy breath go, his chest rising and falling shallowly. “I need you to pass along some messages for me.”

 

“Richard-“

 

“No, Alex, there’s a chance I won’t survive this. I need you to talk to some people. Please.”

 

“Fine, but you’re gonna be able to tell them yourself.”

 

“I need you, uh, I need you to tell Charlie that I’ve thought about her every single day since she left.” He coughed sharply. “That she’ll always be my little girl and I’m so proud of her. Tell her, tell her that all of my properties are her and any money I have is hers. She can s-s-sell it all if she wants. I just wish we could’ve had one last meal together.” Strand winced as they hit a speed bump.

 

Alex muttered a quick, “Sorry.”

 

“Tell Ruby she’s the best damn assistant I’ve ever had. The Strand Institute is hers. She knows where everything is.”

 

“Ruby’s going to kill me if I let you die on my watch, so please don’t die,” she joked weakly.

 

Strand managed a breathy chuckle. “If you find Coralee again, tell her I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t try harder. That I never found her. That I gave up.”

 

“Nearly there, nearly there.” Alex made the final turn towards the hospital.

 

“Alex, you need to tell her,” he broke off in a series of coughs.

 

“Richard, hang on, we’re almost there.”

 

“You need to tell her that I’m sorry I’m not in love with her anymore.” He gritted out, his teeth grinding together in pain.

 

Alex’s heart thudded painfully in her chest. “You don’t mean that. You can talk to Coralee yourself. We’re here.” She skidded to a stop in front of the hospital. She sprinted to the other side of the car, hauling Strand out. “Help!” She called out and a guard came running. “My friend’s been shot. He needs help.” The guard supported Strand’s other side as they hurried towards the entrance. A team of nurses rushed towards them, lifting Strand onto a gurney.

 

Before they could pull him away, Strand managed to grab Alex’s wrist. Wincing with pain, he mumbled, “Don’t leave me, Alex. Please. I don’t want to go.”

 

“Shhh… you’re going to be fine. You can’t leave me alone. I need you.” She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “You’re going to be fine.”

 

He was quickly wheeled away and Alex was left standing in the door, clutching her abdomen tightly.

 

She wasn’t sure how long she was standing there, but she couldn’t move a muscle. Her colleague, her friend, her partner might be dying just beyond that wall and there was nothing she could do.

 

“Alex,” a soft voice echoed in the periphery of her mind. A hand came to rest on her shoulder and she nearly jumped a foot in the air. “Alex, it’s me, Nic.” Alex turned slowly to see him, shaking slightly as she realized how cold it was. “Alex, c’mon, let’s go sit. I’ve got some clothes for you to change into.” He led her towards the waiting room where worried families sat.

 

“I couldn’t do anything. I just stood there.” She mumbled, rubbing her arms nervously.

 

“Alex, why don’t you go to the bathroom and change?” Nic passed her a small bag. “I didn’t have time to go to your place, so all the stuff is gonna be a bit big. I’m sorry.” She nodded numbly, vaguely aware of the concerned looks she was getting. She stumbled towards the bathroom.

 

When she returned, Nic had found some coffee and pressed a warm cup into her hand. “It’s going to be okay, Alex.”

 

“I need to make some calls.” She said blankly. She blinked a few times, trying to focus.

 

“Alex, it can wait. You’re in shock.”

 

“No, Nic, I need to make some calls.” She repeated, shrugging off his hand. She tugged her phone from the pocket of the sweatshirt Nic had brought her. Her fingers trembled as she typed but she managed it nonetheless. “Ruby? It’s Alex Reagan. Dr. Strand’s been shot.”

 

There was silence on the other line for a long moment. _“He’s been shot? How? Why? What happened?”_

 

“Warren. He’s dead. We’re at Harborview. He’s in surgery.” Alex’s voice shook weakly.

 

 _“I’ll be on the first flight to Seattle._ ” Ruby said shortly. _“Are you okay, Alex?”_

 

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m fine.” She pressed a hand to her face. “I’ll let you know when I know anything.”

 

 _“Thank you._ ”

 

Nic pushed her gently into one of the hard plastic chairs. “Alex, really, you need to settle down. You’ve done everything you could.”

 

“I need to call Charlie.”

 

“Charlie Strand?”

 

“Yes, Charlie Strand.” Alex replied sharply, shooting a hostile look Nic’s way. She lifted her phone to her ear, praying the other woman would pick up the phone. It rung a few times before going to voicemail. “Charlie? It’s Alex Reagan, from Pacific Northwest Stories. It’s about your father. He’s been shot in Seattle. He’s in surgery right now at Harborview. I’ll give you another call later when I know more. Give me a call at this number.”

 

Nic wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Alex, it’s not your fault.”

 

“If I hadn’t started this whole thing, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I pushed too far. I wouldn’t stop. Even when everybody told me to.”

 

“No, Alex, you were doing your job. Thomas Warren was an unstable man. It’s not your fault.” Nic just kept repeating that, stroking her hair softly, until Alex began to relax and drift off, the adrenaline quickly wearing off. She rested her head on Nic’s shoulder, suddenly exhausted. “It’s not your fault.”

 

Alex dreamt of dark creeping shadows and upside down faces and demons and guns and so much blood; there was so much blood. There was blood everywhere. Her hands were covered in blood. Why was there so much blood? Was she bleeding? Where was the blood coming from?

 

She shot awake, knocking into Nic. Her breath came in short pants. She stared down at her hands, which weren’t covered in blood.

 

“Alex?” Nic jerked out of his half-sleep. “Is everything okay?”

 

“There was so much blood.” She mumbled. “So much blood.”

 

“Shh, it’s all going to be okay.” Nic rubbed her back. “Everything is going to be okay.”

 

“Richard Strand?” A doctor called at the front of the room. Alex scrambled up, nearly knocking Nic over in the process.

 

“Hi, I’m the one who brought him in.” Alex said, reaching out to shake the doctor’s hand.

 

The doctor smiled kindly at her. “I’m Doctor Swanson, his surgeon.”

 

“Is he going to be okay?” She rushed out nervously.

 

Dr. Swanson flipped through her charts momentarily. “The surgery was a success. We are hopeful that he will make a full recovery. He’s currently resting. The bullet didn’t hit anything too vital, but he did lose a lot of blood.”

 

“Will there be any lasting effects?” Nic asked.

 

“There’s a chance that he’ll have some short term memory loss of the events surrounding his injury, but that’s perfectly normal. It’s part of the body’s way of protecting us.”

 

“Can I see him?”

 

The doctor looked up at Alex. “We can only allow family. Are you family?”

 

Alex hesitated, glancing down at her hands nervously. Nic quickly said, “She’s his fiancée. And I’m her brother.”

 

“Oh, then yes, you can see him. I’ll get a nurse to take you back in a few minutes.”

 

Once the doctor was gone, Alex threw her arms around Nic’s neck, practically knocking him over. “Thank god.”

 

Nic chuckled lightly. “I told you, everything is going to be fine.”

 

“Family of Richard Strand?” A tall nurse appeared next to them. “If you could follow me.”

 

When Alex saw him covered in tubes and wires and looking distinctly un-Strand like, she wanted to be sick. He had been so close to death. She could’ve lost him.

 

Alex sank into a chair by his bed, tentatively reaching forward to touch his hand. It felt warmer than it had a few hours earlier and she let out an audible sigh of relief. “Oh my god.” She whispered, slumping back in the chair.

 

Nic joined her by Strand’s bedside, content to just sit and support Alex.

 

The steady beeping of the machines was the only noise in the room and as she laced their fingers together, Alex leaned forward, cushioning her head on her arms.

 

For the first time in months, she slept undisturbed.

 

She found herself waking slowly as there was a new pressure on her hand. Something was squeezing her fingers. She lifted her head, eyes still half closed.

 

“Alex?”

 

She blinked slowly. “Hey, you’re awake.”

 

Strand’s mouth ticked up in a half smile. “Thank you for saving my life.”

 

“Any time, Richard.”

**Author's Note:**

> title from the postal service's "there's never enough time"
> 
> hope you enjoyed it! this was originally a lot more angsty, but we'll ease into that, how about? 
> 
> come chat on tumblr: jvn-erso 
> 
> ~ebh


End file.
